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Get your loved ones off Facebook

salimvirani.com

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Re: Get your loved ones off Facebook

#221

Post by phoenixProgram »

Facebook is a huge problem. I think it is a huge drain on the taxpayers who must fund a government that keeps Facebook users safe. The upside is that the terrorists may use it and thereby get caught. The problem is, who defines the terrorists?

The problem is that Facebook can get the government to define "terrorist" on its own timetable rather than the government's timetable. Society already defines membership through exclusion: an "unhealthy" Facebook account is grounds for stripping you of the privilege of being a member of society in good standing.

Re: Get your loved ones off Facebook

#222

Post by phoenixProgram »

jwhitlark wrote: post #150

If you think it, don't say it. If you say it, don't write it down. If you write it, don't sign it. If you sign it, don't be surprised.

don't be surprised if people like it?

don't be surprised if it takes work to make it better?

don't be surprised if it catches on?

don't be surprised if people love it?

Re: Get your loved ones off Facebook

#223

Post by manigandham »

dEnigma wrote: post #21
instafacebook wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do know Instagram is owned by Facebook right?

First of all, I love that this prompted you to create an account. The author of the parent comment might not care as much if it is on Instagram, because one doesn't give away just as much information there, compared to facebook; and there's no equivalent to the "Like" button that tracks you across third-party websites.

It's the same company, they own all the domains. If you're using Instagram than FB knows who you are.

Re: Get your loved ones off Facebook

#224

Post by kafkaesq »

mcgrath_sh wrote: post #215
kafkaesq wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm simply not willing to cut people out of my life and miss out on things that are important to me because my data is mined and might be used against me. I concur that FB can be useful for finding out about stuff going in your world. But if not using a certain commercial product -- any commercial product -- means "cutting people out of your life" to any significant degree, then well... you might want to think about…

It may not be him that is dependent on a commercial product. I rarely, if ever, use Facebook as an active product. By this I mean I may post a generic status once or twice a month and may actively check my feed once or twice a week. However, if I were to completely close down my Facebook account, I would lose all of the passive information that is sent to me. This includes invitations to parties, people letting me kn…

However, if I were to completely close down my Facebook account, I would lose all of the passive information that is sent to me.

Or you could just do a quick inventory of which of those groups / are still important to you. And then sign up again using a different device / email address. Along with, of course, a totally fake user name. And (slowly) sign up again for those pages.

Which I guess would against FB's terms of service, in theory. But fuck that. They certainly aren't honest and above-board with you -- there's no reason you "owe" them any particular degree of honesty in return. Just use them for what you need, and let them (and their expected monetization off the minutia of your inner life) sod off otherwise.

As you with with, you know, any commercial product.

Re: Get your loved ones off Facebook

#225

Post by sumeno »

lbstr_ftw wrote: post #136
joshstrange wrote: post #128

It won't be a popular opinion here but here it goes: Well if it all goes to hell we will all be in the same handbasket. I'm simply not willing to cut people out of my life and miss out on things that are important to me because my data is mined and might be used against me. All these distributed platforms are a joke, no really they are technically cool but no one I care about is on them. Maybe if your entire social c…

It's amusing and sad that you honestly think leaving Facebook is the same thing as cutting people out of your life. I've been Facebook free for several years now. It feels great, and I didn't have to cut anyone out of my life to do it (who I wasn't otherwise already communicating with). Much less noice, more productive, both in my life and in my relationships.

It is great if it works this way for you, but every group had its own dynamics. Personally my group of friends primarily talks via Messenger, that's where all the planning for things takes place. We have one friend who isn't on Facebook and he unintentionally gets left out of things. He isn't cut out of our lives, but ultimately he pays a penalty for not being on Facebook

Re: Get your loved ones off Facebook

#226

Post by rdiddly »

bargl wrote: post #131
khedoros1 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's interesting to find someone on here who maintains all of their files/email/photos/etc locally in a redundantly backed-up manner at home on their own personal server. How did you do that? Can you recommend me a way to do that for a non-technical person? ...You don't do that? If you don't have local "gold master" copies of your files, then you don't own your files. And if you don't copy them onto multiple device…

> It's interesting to find someone on here who maintains all of their files/email/photos/etc locally in a redundantly backed-up manner at home on their own personal server. How did you do that? Can you recommend me a way to do that for a non-technical person? You missed a very important point I'm trying to make with my question. Can you recommend me a way to do that for a non-technical person? Many people on HN forge…

Instructions for non-technical person: 1) Make a folder. 2) Save the file in the folder. 3) Every now and then, copy the folder to some other place (let's say a thumb drive or other USB device).

The problem is no more "technical" than that.

Re: Get your loved ones off Facebook

#227

Post by linkregister »

I'm surprised to be the only one to point out that many of the examples the author uses are misleading.

"Facebook is impersonating you to post things!" -> Facebook clumsily attaches an advertisement to a post with a prominent Related Post header.

"Facebook selling your data to Mastercard!" -> anonymized data is being sold to Mastercard to understand browsing habits and interests.

"Facebook buries posts that it doesn't like so your friends don't see them" -> The News Feed is a compilation of the most popular items of your friends postings; all shared items are available by looking at a friend's page.

"Facebook influenced the 2016 election because it only showed news that was in each users' bubble" -> The little-used Trending Topics section showed news that a given user was likely to want to click. Most users just click on what their friends post. If they're in a bubble, it's because they don't have friends outside of it.

"Facebook gives direct access to the NSA via Prism" -> Facebook receives a National Security Letter and then is forced to give the information to the government.

At least 2 of the most outrageous claims (insurance companies getting Facebook data, Facebook teaming up with data brokers) lead to broken links. Other evidence is on forbes.com/sites, which is not far off from Medium in terms of oversight.

There are some good points. The issue of Facebook's adding the @facebook.com email address as the default (and in some cases deleting the contact's existing email) was a hugely unethical and unpopular thing to do. Many of the future risks the author mentions are realistic and damaging to privacy and personal liberty. Also, looking at idealized pictures of friends' lives can cause feelings of envy and inadequacy. Not to mention the near-constant outrage effect of sensational news being shared.

The author has some good points about the potential future risks of being on Facebook. And some excellent suggestions on how to mitigate it, especially the anti-web tracking tips. Why water it down with deception? It serves only to weaken the argument.

Re: Get your loved ones off Facebook

#229

Post by sankyo »

squeaky-clean wrote: post #144
hammock wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you misinterpreted the analogy. Bathroom door = privacy. Bathroom activities = secrets.

There are no secrets in the bathroom analogy. We all know what you're doing in there (or have a 50% chance at guessing). But you still want privacy.

We found scorched tinfoil in the wastebasket. Someone has secrets and is not covering up.

Re: Get your loved ones off Facebook

#230

Post by sankyo »

squeaky-clean wrote: post #144
hammock wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you misinterpreted the analogy. Bathroom door = privacy. Bathroom activities = secrets.

There are no secrets in the bathroom analogy. We all know what you're doing in there (or have a 50% chance at guessing). But you still want privacy.

We found scorched tinfoil in the wastebasket. Someone has secrets and is not covering up.
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